Hey guys! This will be my last blog and I’m very nervous about it. Our project is due the 14th and I have so many ideas to put together that I don’t know what to include and what will make the most sense. My specialty isn’t really children and my book will be directed more so to them; don’t ask me why I decided that lol.
Mental health isn’t talked about much in school or really in general so I wanted to give the opportunity for people to grow and learn about them to show that they aren’t alone. Many people feel like they are the only ones to have a mental illness when millions actually do. We teach kids to suppress it and “try to not allow it to be your identity” but it really is your identity and should own it. People will judge you for having a mental illness and may even be scared/annoyed with you because of that; just know you are loved by the right people. Try to not let that affect you; they are uneducated in your disorder and decide not to be open minded about it which you can’t control. Focus on you and your recovery/treatment to help you step out of your comfort zone in order to get better. The people to be by your side are meant to be there for you and are truly your friends. If your friends treat you differently than others (for the worse), they are true friends. People should never joke about your mental disorder or should tell you that it’s all in your head/you are making it up. I have anxiety and one time someone told me to just stop worrying and that I had anxiety because I let things overwhelm me. Which is true but you can’t control it, you get help to be able to cope with it. Your body has a system to do in response to something and it’s kind of an automatic response to do what has been taught early on. You have to reteach yourself and allow yourself to go out of your comfort zone.
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Hey guys! Today we will be talking about autism. It is a developmental disorder that limits one's ability to communicate and interact with others. It’s also called autism spectrum disorder and affects the nervous system.
Having autism doesn’t mean people are dumb/stupid, it probably even means the opposite. A lot of people with this disorder will be very smart but won’t know how to express it like others do. They are usually socially awkward but from what I know, they are some of the nicest and honest people out there. This can never be treated fully but it can be helped through therapy. Some symptoms are difficulty in communicating and social interactions, obsessive behaviors/interest and repetitive behaviors. Please don’t diagnose yourself or others, you need a medical diagnosis. You have to be patient and earn their trust though. You will probably have to accept that they won’t be fully open and able to communicate with some. If you are wanting to get close with someone with autism, try finding everything about them. See what they express themselves through, what their triggers are and what they are interested in. If you do that, it will be easier to form a bond with them as well as understanding them more. Another way to understand them more is to watch a show (called atypical) on Netflix. It shows the ups and downs of autism and really shows how to act towards them. They should never feel threatened around you and if they do, you need to fix the situation quickly. A lot of people may not understand autism or that someone has it so you may get a few rude people to make comments or bully the person with it but just be kind to them and an actual friend. If you don’t think you can handle being friends with someone autistic, still be nice. It’s a mental disorder that they can’t help and they just need a friend to understand them that way. A lot of them get bullied and tend to feel alone so don’t be the bully. Most of what I said today was from my personal experience and what I have read/seen as well. They are human and should be loved like one. Just because they have a disorder doesn’t mean they don’t have feelings or should be alone. Hey guys! I decided this week to talk about eating disorders. I wanted to talk about this since a lot of people think it’s more about physical appearance instead of a mental illness. Truth be told, it’s about control usually; some people have a lot going on in their life that seems chaotic and have no control over so they try to control something they actually can. There are three major types of eating disorders: bulimia, binge eating disorder and anorexia.
Binge eating disorder is eating an unhealthy amount of unhealthy food for the majority of the days. You don’t have this if you eat a lot one day, it’s reoccurring for them. Bulimia is when you binge eat but then throw it up and anorexia is when you limit how much you eat to the point you aren’t getting your daily nutrients/energy. *There’s also an earring disorder that stems off anorexia called orthorexia. It’s when you refuse/are scared to eat anything other than “healthy foods”.* Some signs/symptoms for this would be excessive weight gain or weight loss, little to no energy, anxiety when it comes to food, mood swings, wearing loose clothing, not eating in front of others, body checking, body shaming themselves, comparing themselves to others, constipation, stomach issues and no period. It’s more common in women but men do have it so please don’t limit yourselves to thinking it only affects women. A lot of times, people don’t understand eating disorders and just tell someone to “eat better” or to “eat a burger” but that’s not how they work. They start because of a bigger problem but are controlled by weight/food. It’s an addiction that you can’t just get over, even if you want to get better. If you think someone has it, please don’t accuse. Also, don’t comment on their body as much as you can. Sometimes, you saying they are too skinny may be a compliment to them. It’s an illness, so try to understand they can’t control it. It can affect relationships of any sort and if it’s hard for you to the point you feel drained, I get where you can’t be friends with them anymore. Try to be body positive around them and to let them know they are beautiful. Don’t blame yourself for their illness and understand they may have severe mood swings. Just be there for them when the times get ruff and don’t shame/put pity on them. It doesn’t help their situation and it won’t stop them from caring about it. I might go more into detail with each disorder because it’s hard to talk exactly about one than another in just one blog/chapter. Also, go to the doctor if you think you may have one! If anyone is struggling with one, I’m always here to help/talk to. Today, we will be talking about OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder.) I used to think this mental illness was just about cleaning or being neat but there’s so much more to it. It’s an obsession with doing something repetitively; it can be for many reasons, maybe you think you or your family member will die if you don’t do it. Now, it can be about cleaning but some people could even be messy because of it! It can be too overwhelming, causing them to not clean certain things.
The sad thing is, it can’t be cured but it can be treated to help. You can take medication or go to therapy (there’s multiple to do). It can be a fear of something or the need to do something; maybe even both. Some symptoms would be some type of compulsive behavior, agitation, repetitive actions/words, isolation, nightmares and mood swings; they can feel anxious, depressed or guilty. If you think you have this, please go see a doctor. Self diagnosing is not a healthy thing to do and you can misdiagnose yourself too. If you have a friend with this, please be patient. It’s very hard to get over and some need support to get through it. If you know they are at therapy, try to answer your phone if they call. It could mean that they think something bad will happen to you and need to know you’re okay. Don’t try to make them feel bad or stupid for having this, it’s an illness that can’t “just go away” and I know some people can’t understand but please try to; maybe do some research on it (hopefully my book will help). Some researchers are studying the effects of cannabis on people with OCD and it might actually help. In this link (https://www.google.ca/amp/s/m.hindustantimes.com/health/study-suggests-that-cannabis-can-reduce-ocd-symptoms-by-half-in-short-term/story-PecXaTjAJw52iQkqalomZO_amp.html), it’s an article that says what it does. It states that smoking cannabis helped reduce their compulsions by 60 percent, their unwanted thoughts by 49 percent and their anxiety by 52 percent. Of course, it’s not legal in some places but if it in your state, maybe try it out and see if it works for you. Hey guys! Today I will be talking about depression. If you think you have this after reading, please see a doctor. It’s not good to self diagnose even though everyone does it (even me lol). Depression isn’t just being sad sometimes, that normal but once it gets out of hand, you should see what it’s about.
Depression is a mental health disorder that causes people to be disinterested in activities or sad for a long period of time. This goes along with some other mental disorders/illnesses (like anxiety). There's three types of depression: clinical depression, persistent depressive disorder and bipolar disorder. Clinical depression is the basic definition but the others are kind of different. Persistent depressive disorder is a long term depression that's not serious. Bipolar disorder is when you have mood swings of high and lows. Clinical depression is very common and can be treated; you could take medication or see a therapist. Some causes of this can be distress of any kind. You may sleep more or less, have anxiety, feeling guilty, eat less or more than you should, not interested in things, cant concentrate and suicidal thoughts. Depression affects many people differently so you should never label depression as one thing. Depression can make people isolate themselves or makes them not be able to even get out of bed. Some depressed people sometimes find it hard to brush their teeth or take a shower. They feel as though they are a waste of space and it can result in death. If you think your friend has this, please look for signs. Sometimes random texts they usually don’t send can be a sign they are about to commit suicide so please check on them and hang out with them when you can. Let them know how much they mean to you and surround them with positive energy. It’s easier to make time for them then to go to their funeral so if they ask you to hang out, please say yes if you can. I’ve heard many people regretting how they acted to someone they lost from depression because they were never there for them. If they do loose the fight with depression, please don’t blame yourself. Sometimes there's nothing you can do and its really sad to think about that. The next chapter in my book is about anxiety. Anxiety is a mental health disorder that causes panic/worry. It can affect your daily life and limit your activities. This can be characterized by obsessive compulsive disorder, panic disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, social anxiety and PTSD. It can cause you to not sleep, sweat, lack of concentration, fear and nausea.
Anxiety is more common as people get older and middle age. The most common type is generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) many people suffer from the others as well. It’s very common; when you look it up, it will say that more than 3 million people in the US suffer from anxiety today. Things that can worsen your anxiety are caffeine, alcohol and hardcore drugs. Some things that can help your anxiety are therapy, exercise, meditation and a healthy diet. Some peoples anxiety can be very different. They may excel because of it or be the complete opposite. Some people may be bad at tests because they double check themselves and are scared the right answer is wrong. They may isolate themselves from people or they could surround themselves with friends to help their anxiety. I wanted to include this in my book since anxiety can be a branch of other mental health issues and is a very common thing in people. A lot of people in my school have told me that they have a lot of anxiety because of tests or the schoolwork they have. I think school does play a huge part in teens anxiety and their mental health. Anxiety can cause other issues in a person's life like depression. They tend to give up because when they try, they feel bad and may get sick to their stomachs. I was diagnosed with social anxiety not too long ago. Sometimes I can’t order food for myself or go to gatherings just because of it. It ruins my ability to maintain relationships (of any kind) and is really hard to even go to school some mornings. The way mine has gotten better is by pushing myself to do stuff, even if I don’t want to. You have to know some days you need a break and it’s okay to not do something you want to achieve. It’s never okay to give up and let your anxiety take away your whole life. Hello guys! I’ve decided to change my project a little bit; I’m still learning about mental illnesses and how it affects people but I’m writing a book on how to recognize it in people as well as how to help support people to get through it. A lot of people don’t look at underlying issues but they play a huge part in peoples lives.
My first chapter in my book is about Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD). When I first heard it, I thought it was a kind of spilt personality but it’s not. It’s an emotional dysregulation disorder that’s characterized by unstable moods, relationships and behavior. People with this disorder may self harm. If someone isolates themselves, eat too much or too little, allow toxic people back into their lives and put others always before them can be examples of self harm we typically don’t think of. It’s hard to diagnose someone under the age 18 with BPD since the symptoms can be common within teens. Some symptoms may be impulsiveness, insecurity, high and low points in moods, bad at maintaining relationships and explosive anger/moods. If you think you have this, please be diagnosed by a doctor. You can have these symptoms and still not have it. Instead, you may have anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder, etc. (I will be talking more about these later in my book) Having this can be from childhood trauma, it may be an unhealthy way to cope with your feelings since you were never taught how to deal with all these bottled up emotions. This may last a lifetime or a few years but it can be treated by a professional. They will teach you on how to cope with your emotions and how to deal with them healthily. People with BPD can have a severe fear of abandonment so they tend to either hold onto to people they care about, even if it’s bad for them or not want anything to do with anybody since they ae scared they will be abandoned/treated badly again. Even though they sound like bad people, can can actually be very caring and compassionate. It may take them a while to trust and give their all in a relationship but it’s usually worth it, if you treat them well. When I say relationship, I don’t just mean romantically. It can be friendships and family relations too. In my book, I’ll be talking more about how to help people with BPD and how to understand what they are feeling. |
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